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INTERCEPTED AL QAEDA COMMUNICATION IS SAID TO PROMPT ALERT, via The New York Times's Eric Schmitt and Mark Mazzetti: "The Obama administration’s decision last week to close nearly two dozen diplomatic missions and issue a worldwide travel alert came after the United States intercepted electronic communications in which the head of Al Qaeda ordered the leader of the group’s affiliate in Yemen to carry out an attack as early as this past Sunday, according to American officials.

"The intercepted conversations last week between Ayman al-Zawahri, who succeeded Osama bin Laden as the head of the global terrorist group, and Nasser al-Wuhayshi, the head of the Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, revealed what American intelligence officials and lawmakers have described as one of the most serious plots against American and Western interests since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001." http://nyti.ms/14v0X9i

"The threat is emanating from and may be directed towards the Arabian Peninsula, but it is beyond that, potentially. And that is why we have taken some of the actions we've taken," Carney told reporters yesterday. "And we can't be more specific than that except to say that the embassy closures that we've announced are in reaction to that out of an abundance of caution, and the extension of those closures does not reflect a new stream of threat information but is more a reflection of taking necessary precautions." More, from POLITICO's Josh Gerstein: http://politi.co/17uwbbm

-- Marie Harf, a State Department spokeswoman, said that 19 U.S. embassies and consulates would remain closed for the week, but didn't shut down the possibility that they could be shuttered for even longer.

"Our preference, I should say here, is for embassies and consulates to be open. Clearly, we operate around the world in places like this because we have a mission there. But we have to balance the mission need versus the security situation on the ground, and we’ll continue making those decisions going forward," she said.

HAPPENING TODAY: FORT HOOD SHOOTING TRIAL BEGINS: The court-martial for Maj. Nidal Hasan, who’s accused of killing 13 people and wounding 30 at Fort Hood, Texas, on Nov. 5, 2009 starts today. Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. Hasan, who is representing himself in military court, faces the death penalty if convicted.

HAPPY TUESDAY and thank you for reading POLITICO’s Morning Defense, where fantasy football draft prep is taking up all of the spare time in my day. Send your latest defense news (and top draft picks) my way at jsummers@politico.com. Don’t forget to follow on Twitter at @jmsummers and @morningdefense.

ANOTHER NOMINEE FACES RESISTANCE: Sen. Mark Udall is blocking the nomination of Stephen Preston, nominated to become the Defense Department’s top lawyer. A spokesman for the Colorado Democrat told POLITICO that Udall’s hold was rooted in questions involving the Senate Intelligence Committee's report CIA's detention and interrogation program. Obama nominated Preston to serve as the Pentagon’s general counsel; he currently serves as the CIA’s top lawyer.

AIR FORCE HOPES TO SAVE CASH WITH FUEL SWITCH, via POLITICO's Leigh Munsil: "Air Force units are switching from military-grade jet fuel to commercial grade, officials say, a move that backers hope will save the service money — though it isn’t clear how much. The Defense Logistics Agency Energy has been pushing for a move to commercial fuel for several years, and Air Force fuel officials have said it will provide “huge dollar savings” for the force. But a DLA Energy spokeswoman declined to estimate just how much could be saved by moving more units to commercial fuel." http://politico.pro/195hItm

IT’S RECESS — DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR LAWMAKERS ARE?: Washington's much quieter without members of Congress around to battle over sequestration, the NSA and all the other issues we typically track. But don't worry, we haven't forgotten about them.

Sens. Lindsey Graham and John McCain arrived in Cairo yesterday and plan to meet with leaders of Egypt's interim government today. CNN reports that they also expect to meet with the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood.

House Armed Services Chairman Buck McKeon was in Evansville, Ind., where he toured AmeriQual, a local company that makes ready-to-eat meals for the military. The company laid off nearly 50 workers in May, a fact that it attributed to sequestration cuts and a decrease in military deployments. McKeon was invited by Indiana Rep. Larry Bucshon. More, from the Evansville Courier & Press: http://bit.ly/1c5n8pg

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CROCKER SAYS HE'D GO TO SYRIA "IN A HEARTBEAT," via Defense One's Stephanie Gaskell: "Ryan Crocker, the retired career diplomat known for his work as U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Afghanistan and in many of the world’s hotspots, says he would travel to Syria to try to intervene in the civil war there 'in a heartbeat.' Crocker told Defense One in an interview that he’d come out of retirement again-- he’s now the dean of George Bush’s School of Government and Public Services at Texas A&M University — “if I were asked officially,” but he also predicted that the now disjointed and out-gunned Syrian rebel forces ultimately would fail." http://bit.ly/11IztsQ

BOSTON BOMBING SUSPECT WAS STEEPED IN CONSPIRACIES, via The Wall Street Journal's Alan Cullison: "Extremist U.S. newspapers and other publications found in the apartment of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev reveal a broad interest in far-flung conspiracy theories, well beyond the Islamist radicalism authorities allege motivated the attack." http://on.wsj.com/17usQZO

MILITARY MISSIONS APPEAR UNAFFECTED BY LATEST TERROR THREAT, via Stars and Stripes' John Vandiver: "At military and diplomatic facilities in Bahrain, where the U.S. Embassy remained closed on Monday amid concerns of a potential al Qaeda strike someplace in the greater Middle East or Northern Africa, there were no special signs of alarm. Indeed, it almost appeared normal at the U.S. Embassy in Manama, a fortified compound with a series of checkpoints and patrolling armed guards. Same at the U.S. Navy’s nearby base, home to the heavily guarded headquarters of U.S. Fifth Fleet, where security is always high. Such states of heightened alert are the norm." http://1.usa.gov/195pd3v

DoD’s ASH CARTER SOUNDS SEQUESTRATION ALARM, via USA Today's Tom Vanden Brook: "Troop cuts and civilian layoffs are imminent unless Congress and the White House reach a deal to avert another round of automatic budget cuts this fall, according to the Pentagon's No. 2 official…. 'We can't rule out reductions in the civilian workforce and involuntary separations of military personnel,' Carter said. 'That's something none of us wants to do. But again if you have to have reductions this fast and this steep you have to go where it is possible to get money that fast. Those are not the most strategically and managerially sound places.'" http://usat.ly/195gUET

A U.S. NAVY WITH ONLY EIGHT CARRIERS: THE DRASTIC CONSEQUENCES OF HAGEL'S FLEET OPTIONS, via Defense News's Christopher Cavas: "At first, the statement is shocking. 'Reduce the number of carrier strike groups from 11 to 8 or 9, draw down the Marine Corps from 182,000 to between 150,000 and 175,000.' But those words July 31 from US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel brought into the open some of the behind-the-scenes discussions that have been going on at the Pentagon for months. Senior Defense Department officials continue to stress no decisions have been made out of the Strategic Choices and Management Review, but the everything-is-on-the-table nature of the discussions is becoming clearer." http://bit.ly/195cq0I

MEDIA MINUTE — WASHINGTON POST SOLD TO AMAZON'S BEZOS FOR $250 MILLION: We don't dive into the media scene often here at Morning D, but this sale merits a brief mention as it will bring to an end eight decades of ownership by The Washington Post Company. The deal does not include Foreign Policy magazine, Slate or The Root. Full story, via POLITICO's Dylan Byers: http://politi.co/15Iy0Dy

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